After whirlwind break, Daniel Suárez returns with new contract, performance aspirations

RICHMOND, Va. – Daniel Suárez capped an eventful two-week break with a bit of news. After a gala wedding in Brazil and a victory in a NASCAR Brasil Series race just days later, his Trackhouse Racing team announced Friday that he’ll return to the No. 99 Chevrolet for the 2025 Cup Series season.

The contract extension, Suárez said, actually came first. Announcing the details was a matter of timing.

“It’s been done for a little while,” Suárez said before Saturday’s qualifying at Richmond Raceway. “We just … it’s been a lot going on in my life, career, personal life, and we just wanted to wait for the right moment.”

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Another timing component, it turns out, was also significant. The single-year length of the deal was intentional for both driver and team, with Suárez indicating that the Justin Marks-founded organization has grown rapidly since its 2021 debut but that performance gains are needed.

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Suárez qualified for the Cup Series Playoffs by winning a photo-finish thriller at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the second race of the season. He has just one top-five result in the 20 races since. In reaching the new agreement, Suárez said the contract includes incentives that could increase the length of the agreement if certain performance goals are met.

“There is a lot of things in the contract that activate longer if we both decided that is the right thing to do,” Suárez said before qualifying 21st for Sunday’s Cook Out 400 (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). “There is a lot of things in Trackhouse that are adjusting and changing. Performance-wise, we’re not exactly where we want to be — not just in the 99 but in Trackhouse as a company, and we have to make sure that we fix that before we want to go any longer. This goes really both ways.

“I think that 2022, we started extremely strong in Trackhouse with the Next Gen car, 2023 was strong, and 2024 hasn’t been as good as we were expecting. So we have work to do. We believe that we know where we’re heading, and we have already some things in our back pocket that we’re working on behind the scenes. But we have work to do, so hopefully that work gets reflected on track.”

That decision, he said, was mutual.

“It was Trackhouse and also myself, because, like I said, I want to win. They want to win, too,” said Suárez, who has been with the team since its competition debut. “But like I said, we have some things in our contract that if tomorrow, things start heading in the right direction the way that we’re working, that contract is going to change very quickly by itself, so we want to make sure that we are clicking and competitive the way we want. I don’t want to run 15th. They don’t want to run 15th. But it’s not a secret, this year has been a struggle for Trackhouse performance-wise.”

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Suárez made his own solid performance achievements during the two-week break for the Summer Games, winning in the NASCAR Brasil Series during its Aug. 4 meet. Besides having the distinction of winning races in the Cup Series, Mexico Series and now in Brazil, Suárez said that the spirited crowd left an impression on him.

“It was unbelievable what I experienced over there,” Suárez said. “We all know how big the sport is, but I don’t think many people have experienced it in person. I saw a NASCAR Brasil race with 40,000 people in the grandstands, and the first thought that came to my mind was what the Cup Series would do here. It would be unbelievable. So I had an amazing experience over there, and hopefully, one day, we all can experience that together.”

Suárez also tied the knot with longtime girlfriend Julia Piquet in her Brasilia hometown – the centerpiece of a packed two-week break.

“Honestly, we had the time of our lives. We are very, very blessed and very fortunate,” Suárez said. “We had a great time. Honestly, from beginning to end, I don’t think I could have asked for anything different. Great, great time with family, with close friends.”